Friday, February 20, 2009

9 comments:

The imprint appears to be that of a juvenile tundra swan, or cygnus columbianus. The mute and whooper swans have a much more splayed way of walking.At first I had thought "Leach's storm petrel", but changed my mind...for obvious reasons.

The tracks at the far right are those of an Eurasian lynx. It shows his crouching position, then he apparently leaped somewhere.

It's a bit of a mystery what a lnyx and a swan were doing together in the forest. It sounds like the beginning of a silly joke: a lynx and a swan walk into a bar...

............................................... I think I saw a rabbit run across the frame........................................from right to left................................................just above the broken ice. Cool

Yes, Zhoen - a snow bath. I know, I know, it's taken me a fair while to agree with you, but these questions are important and one should not make hasty judgments, wouldn't you say? But, after these eight months, two weeks and four days (give or take the odd hour - it's tricky to be absolutely accurate with the timezones, Zhoen, isn't it?), I feel no hesitation whatsoever to agree with you without, well, hesitation. A snow bath it is. (Incidentally, have you ever had one? I can highly recommend one, should the chance come your way. An experience you'll never, ever forget, it stays imprinted in your body memory. Go go go, you know you want to.)

Montag - of course. Cygnus columbianus. And here I was, thinking it was a fulvous whistling-duck. Do check out my video, though, and my gross misidentification of the species may become more understandable. If you calculate the axial angle of the neck and tail-feather movement of the specimen (not forgetting to factor in the sheer, chilled-to-the-bone blueness of the feet and beak areas), it wouldn't be a far cry (or indeed, a fulvous whistle) to imagine the markings were made by just such a specimen. (The one you captured, over at your house, is way more beautiful, though. A stunning animal, worthy of canonisation without further ado.)

I won't, however, even bother describing the sheer agony of trying to figure out just what the blazes the lynx and the swan were doing in the bar. For months on end (so you - and indeed, the rest of the blogging community, I will have you know - only have you yourself to blame for waiting since winter. I rest my case, Your Honour. Your witness). Come on, Montag, let me out of my misery. I'll never work it out unassisted.

Miranda - why thank you. So are you (and so's the music).

Gael, Gael, Gael. What can I say?

(.) (x) ^ VVVVV

(hoping this looks like a peculiar face, to you, rather than like something peculiarly rude)